Being from Wisconsin and also being loyal to the the state's professional football team, I found it a bit uneasy stepping inside Mike Ditka's restaurant. However, it was tempting given the rave reviews we have heard about the place.
I confess that I eat at the Drive-Thru. I've actually seen studies that show something like 90% of the people out there eat in their cars. Now I can hope that it's granola and bananas and thermoses of soup but somehow I know that it boils down to the drive-thru and if you talk to these people I would suspect that the holy grail of drive-thru is breakfast. McDonald's has been playing with the all-day breakfast option. Lunch-Time Breakfast Burrito! We'll be getting fatter as a nation.
Looking around for reservations resulted in menus that seemed good to great. For some reason I went into Primehouse expecting one steak option and, I dunno, some fish and pasta options. The menu was fantastic. A choice between a bone-in filet and a Delmonico ribeye or Shrimp... sweet! The appetizer choices of a cold seafood plate– two shrimp and two oysters was terrific and the lobster bisque with a large lobster tempura crisp was consumed so quickly I didn't get a chance to even ask for a taste.
I always wonder whether or not to write about places like Blackbird. It's a Chicago mainstay. Everyone knows about it. But having eaten there recently it would be a shame not to wallow in the near-perfection of the restaurant. Even sitting at the bar, I had a terrific dinner.
The bar location means sitting on tall hard wooden chairs versus the short wooden chairs at the regular tables. Neither are cushioned (boy, do I need special treatment) so it's not really an issue. However service is not the same. If you want constant attention get a table.
It's on Randolph and the decor is very formal and clean – definitely not homey or casual. The appetizers I tried included the scallops, quail and sweetbreads.
The scallops were perfect with and eggplant puree was a nice way to include a dense pseudo-starch where I might expect a potato-type thing in an entrée. The scotch quail and egg was also terrific. I had the quail app at Custom House 2 nights before and while I enjoyed Custom House's more it was also the best part of my Custom House meal.
The sweetbreads were cooked twice, finished in the pan with
a crispy dusting. The earthy beets were a perfect combo. Considering
the foie gras ban - sweetbreads are really the next best thing. Pictured are Kahan's passed sweetbread appetizers from a benefit dinner with Mario Batali.
(I think those were the sweetbreads)
I’m always confused as to why Chicago’s theater district has a booming theater scene and a not so booming food scene to go with it. It has never been harder to find a good restaurant in Chicago in that particular area that isn’t a fast food chain. There are certainly the old stand-bys like the Walnut room, which for the price offers pretty decent white tablecloth fare – often highlighting signature dishes from TV celebrity chefs like Rick Bayless and Ming Tsai.
However, this particular theater night I was in the mood for something different and since my show was playing at the Auditorium on Congress I decided to try Custom House, which was a visit that had been long overdue. I was very excited by their pre-theater, 3 courses, price fixed menu, which the hostess reviewed with me over the phone before I made our reservation. For 46 dollars there were ample options of all courses – appetizer, entrée, side and desert. All items are also on the menu individually at about 30 dollars per entrée.
My fiancee and I were walking down the street when we noticed that an old neighbor of hers had opened a restaurant on Elm Street, which he told us about a while back. The restaurant, Table Fifty-Two, is a small, homey restaurant paying homage to the chef's Southern roots. In a place open just three days, we wanted to beat the potentially-forthcoming hype and the crowds.
To start out, we were pleasantly surprised the restaurant was BYOB (we were told only for a week, though), so I quickly rushed to my fiancee's place and grabbed a bottle of fine. We were given a gratis treat of yummy goat cheese biscuits to start out.
Continue reading "Table Fifty-Two: A welcome addition to the Gold Coast" »
I don't like oysters or clams very much. I had a terrific dinner at MK two nights ago and the first plate we saw had an oyster with strawberry on top. I wasn't into it. My co-diner even less so. There was a certain irony when I called her the next night from Boston waiting for a seat at the Union Oyster House oyster bar.
The Union Oyster House is the oldest continuously serving restaurant in the U.S. It opened in 1826 and has been serving ever since. Only three families have ever owned the establishment. Isaiah Thomas published the first newspaper in the U.S. upstairs, "The Massachusetts Spy." It wasn't about basketball. It's an old place with a very old oyster bar.
Continue reading "Ipswich Steamer Clams... Union Oyster House" »
I'm not so much into hot dogs, per se (that's what happens when, as a student, you are forced to listen to lectures on how hot dogs are made), but I'm always up for a good burger. The difference is all in my head, I know, but so be it.
Regardless, fRedhots and Fries is my current favorite.
Sometimes you make good decisions and sometimes you make bad decisions and sometimes you make good decisions that start out good and end up being not so good. I woke up Saturday morning and decided to go for a bike ride, check out the local garage sales, see if I could find another Vita-Mix (I missed out on the first one). But unfortunately there was nothing good and I only saw maybe 5 sales all-told. So I kept heading south and before you know it I was at Damon and Montrose and figured I could go to Hot Doug's for a bite. By then it was 10:45 and I figured I could swing it and be back by noon. The day started out maybe high 70's and I had on jeans. It was what, 90+ on Saturday?
I was a sweat rag on arrival at Doug's. The line was out the door. I was starving and parched. I was also telling myself that *now* I can eat a hot dog (or two) and fries (duck fat) without any (or less) guilt. I waited in line.
The waitress reminds us that the brisket was mentioned on "Check Please." There's a fan-base for their 4-cheese macaroni. Fat Willy's is a go-to place for lots of folks. I should have written this before going to Texas but it might make a bolder statement now that I've been to a couple Lone Star eateries. The brisket is really good.
I had to order two sandwich plates. A big problem is that you can't get a meat assortment. I've heard that they serve a mean bird but I didn't want to toss all the extra bread, fries, cole slaw, etc. To order just the meat you have to order a huge portion – it's crazy.
I've been travelling and a wonderful thing about the web is that you can post from anywhere. The downside is that if you're posting, you're not doing something else. Considering it was my first visit to Paris and I was running around I am asking for a pass... I'll get to the wonderful places with pictures but there is a more pressing summer issue. B-B-Q.
Smoque has been getting lots of attention for a long time as being some great BBQ. Given my obsessive relationship with brisket I was a little embarassed to admit that I've never had smoked brisket.
Being from a small town in Wisconsin, I still feel like it's a real treat going out to a supper club. Back home, supper clubs were pretty much the only choice for going out for my family, aside from a couple chain places that were steadfastly avoided. Many outside Wisconsin have asked me what a supper club is, believing it is something posh like an exclusive country club. A supper club is anything but. Supper clubs typically are rural roadhouse-type establishments, some of which are nothing more than taverns with a few extra tables, whereas others are fancier but lovingly dated with red pleather, red lights, and fake plants. Popular supper club foods include fish frys (more on that below), Saturday night prime rib specials (hard to top as many supper clubs have special prime rib cookers and lots of experience doing it right), steaks, fried chicken, and then sometimes things like frog legs and duck.
Continue reading "Twin Anchors: Old-School Supper Club Feel" »
Last month I wound up eating at the same restaurant two Saturdays in a row. It’s not hard to do when you’re in the same neighborhood twice and see a favorite restaurant staring you in the face. That place happens to be Avec on Randolph. Not the type of place to go if you want privacy (you share tables with strangers), but in my book that’s a good thing, especially if the strangers next to you offer to share their food.
These past two weeks have been a gastric-dream. It definitely would mark the end of my New Year's Resolution had it anything to do with diet. Between December and January I have indulged in enough meals to go toe-to-toe with the fromager at Cityzen in D.C. who apparently toured Chicago's acclaimed restaurants- from Alinea to Trotter's to Tru in about 3 days. What's funny is that some real special flavors, at least as far as I can tell in Chicago, live in the smaller out of the way places where, on that budget, you could eat for months instead of one night. That is where you want to be. That takes some work beyond reading Gourmet's top whatever lists...
But what makes any gourmet (Gourmet or otherwise) food tour interesting is that there becomes a context that's 90% of the time otherwise missing. That's why Alinea really bothered me and I wasn't sure why. It was out of context or I was out of context. It wasn't the price and it wasn't that I was full or not full. But after several wonderful meals out I think I am beginning to understand Alinea and what makes it so special.
So, it's not much to look at from the outside, but the food inside of Think Cafe is spectacular. The Web site says this place used to be a kitschy cafe, but it's definitely swank these days...blond wood, white linens, etc. Most of the patrons used the BYOB menu as an excuse to pull out the neoprene wine cooler bags they received for Christmas, but one guy pulled up with a 12 of Miller Lite, so really, all kinds are welcome.
The Ketel One Club is the season ticket holder dining room where if you shelled out lots of money for your tickets you're obviously in a position to drop too much money on food before a hockey game.
There's a concept issue here for me and I think the season ticket holder as a customer is the only way to rationalize why anyone going to a Blackhawks game (in my case) would opt out of the hotdog and beer dinner option with an appetizer of nachos and another beer for dessert. But it takes all kinds. So what do you do? Give them a TGI Fridays menu at a Ruth's Cris price.
Continue reading "The Ketel One Club at the United Center" »
It was a surprise. I'm not even sure how we got short notice seats at Gourmet Magazine's #1 restaurant in the country. All I knew was that a jacket and a pair of pants were in the back seat (no tie required) and I was getting a ride somewhere for a belated B-Day dinner. Boy was I surprised.
I have been looking forward to Alinea since they've opened. Considering all the posts here you'll know that I have yet to go to the heavy hitters in Chicago: Trotter's, Tru, Moto, Everest, etc. I've just been to Arun's but have yet to write that up. Recent outings to other schmancy spots include Morimoto's and Babbo in a random last minute "Food Network" tour of NYC. I was excited about Alinea.
Morris and I were fortunate enough to watch the ball drop this year while being treated to a multi-course food and wine symphony conducted by Chef Grant. We even got a few special treats not on the menu.
Of course the service was impeccable and the attention to detail exceeded all expectations.
However – for me – the highlight of the evening was a new / experimental dish being “test fired”… on us.
On Thursday evenings the Fish Guy Market on Elston closes its retail fish shop and transforms into Wellfleet fish restaurant. Tables are set out between the refrigeration cases and tea lights and candles create an unorthodox atmosphere for a 6 course dinner, though some courses are plated and served together.
The candlelight effect is terrific but the presence of Bill Dugan and crew is equally engaging. Anything you want to know about anything with gills he can explain and he takes you through the evening's dishes with a genuine enthusiasm.
The menu changes every few weeks but the service and level of preparation of the dishes should be constant. Given that they've only been at it for a short time it should even improve. It's BYOB and a couple of different bottles would give you a nice range considering the several courses.
The first course came as a plated combination of three large oysters in an "Asian style," a soy and radish treatment. It was a very clean way to serve a very fresh oyster. A ramekin of creme fraiche covered a layer of cauliflower puree and a healthy portion of Illinois sturgeon caviar – Joel Robuchon style. I enjoyed the cauliflower puree but would have liked toast points or something on which to spread the very rich and very tasty dish.
So much food, so little cost. Prairie Moon offered a large amount of really good food for little money. Our bill for the night before Thanksgiving was under $50 for two fish entrees, a beer and a martini (and good, warm, sourdough bread at the table). I could have made two meals out of the plate had I exhibited any self control, but when the food is that good, why bother.
I enjoyed the fish and chips - buttery soft fish in a crisp, deep-fried breading Served with skinny skin-on fries and yummy tarter sauce, who can beat it? Complemented by a good cold Stella Artois, I was happy.
After a late morning of shopping for wedding dresses my friend and I decided to girl it up for lunch at The Zodiac Room on the 4th floor of Neiman Marcus. Walking into the dining room the atmosphere was very calm and comforting, the perfect place to sit and chat. Models twirled around the room as we dinned, displaying the new fall lines. It definitely felt like something out of a movie.
I'll admit it. I go to Starbucks fairly often. I get it at the office and over long car rides. But I just get coffee. No lattes, mochas, frapps, etc. coffee... black. But I have started getting assorted pastry before a decent car ride. I tried the flax seed braid that actually isn't half bad but I recently tried a breakfast sandwich thinking that it's gotta be better than McDonald's.
So the Bears are up and the Pack is down. The rivalry's so far out of balance that a Ditka jersey north of the border isn't even offensive. So there's no better time to take a quick hour drive to stock up on meats for the rest of the season.
And what more could you ask to go with a fall/wintry football game than a Brat. It legitimizes canned beer. It's one of the only ways to get some guys to eat cabbage. Where could you get this tasty treat? Surely not at your local grocery store...
I suppose. But in this case it's worth a trek to get something really good. It's the only tough part of the process.
Cooking a brat is pretty easy. The more simplistic you can be the better your brats.
Canned beer is a wonderful thing. Old Style was on sale so it fit the bill but High Life, Miller Light, Leinies... any Wisconsin beer would be more appropriate. Slice up some onions, any kind, and add them to the boiling beer (Beer and sme water is okay if you're running low on beer. Just don't go less than half and half unless you've already put away the rest of the beer–make do with whatever you have). If you're a saurkraut fan cook some up in a different pot. You could use the same but I like to separate the onion and the kraut and prefer the beer/onion combo.
From the light-up sign one could correctly guess that the Candlelite has been around for a long time. They did close but quickly reopened when a group of regulars bought them back into existence. Obviously people like the place. The crowd included families and a section inside had a reunion going on... Congrats to the Class of '77.
We finally got to Hamburger Mary's after driving past its sign many times. It's a big sign and, hey, you always want a burger, don't-cha? I settled for splitting a burger, rings, and coleslaw. But that's okay, the burger's are huge.
The name of the place and the style of the menu seem to say diner with burger's defined by Mary's Special, Proud Mary, etc. however the velvet curtains, loud club music videos (of people who likely skip the burger) skew it some which I think is a good thing. Another Johnny Rocket's/Ed Debevic's type place isn't as needed.
I wanted a burger. I went to Candelite and they were closed. On the way up Western we passed U Lucky Dawg and I figured well... they have burgers.
Sure the current owners of U Lucky Dawg have owned Fluky's for the past 8 years. Why they go and change the name is a total mystery. But I learned something this weekend. I think it's good advice and feel that I have to pass this on to you.
Do not order a hamburger at a hot dog stand.
Sola was not what I expected. The street address is on Lincoln but the entrance is on Byron. You will miss it if you're looking for a storefront on Lincoln. That being said, it was a real surprise when I saw the place. It is a beautiful restaurant. Dozens of simple light fixtures hang in a grid from the high ceiling, simple and comfortable chairs keep a very large space open but formal. The decor was not what I associate with the neighborhood that finds the great bar/hangout Grizzly's a block over.
Right next to Blackbird, the big brother (or sugar daddy) of Avec, is a simple rectangular restaurant that seems to want to stress form over function. The 1-room has a row of tables running the length of one half of the restaurant and a bar/counter and kitchen along the other. It looks like something out of Dwell magazine. The irony is that the food is fairly complicated with a traditional grounding. While the food fattens your ass, the stool will flatten it.
And the food is good. The menu is an assortment of small plates, that
aren't too small, and large plates that we didn't try. When you get
knee-deep into the menu you might also have the desire for variety.
Dishes like the crispy duck confit with blood oranges in a blood orange
vinaigrette and crispy short ribs with red peppers, cilantro, red onion
and harissa aioli were ones that, as I left, I wish I tried.
After a really neat small theatre production called Baker & Huff performed in a bar (8pm at the Town Hall Pub 3340 N. Halsted running through April 8th- $10 well spent - Box Office 773-345-0726). We headed north on Halsted to X/O (3441 N. Halsted) hoping for a good bite. I'll admit 11:30pm rolls around and Taco Bell gets more and more appealing.
X/O has an abbreviated menu after 11pm. In the interest of keeping it simple we ordered two dishes and following up beers at the pub, we were sticking with water. The place is pretty trendy and the crowd was dressed for Saturday night in Boys Town.
We were seated right away and our waiter was very helpful making suggestions. We ordered the braised oxtail and the scallops. They arrived and were pretty and very tasty.
The American Club in Kohler Wisconsin, just off the highway at Sheboygan, is renowned for 3 things - food, fairways and fixtures.
It's the home of Kohler kitchen and bath fixtures, they have a design center as part of the resort/hotel and each guest room sports some shmantzy bathroom set-ups. It has one of the best golf courses in the Midwest. As it was winter I didn't spend any of my personal time anywhere but the restaurants.
Their most notable is the Immigrant Room. The idea being that the food is "reflective of... the immigrant history of the village's early European heritage." It was renovated recently and on a Wednesday night I was there in an empty restaurant. Boy the food was good.
I recently took a good job in a not so good location. Technically still in the city (I have a 773 area code) but located in an office park off the freeway. Due to the location the only restaurant in walking distance is....Bennigan's. As frightful as it sounds I have frequented the place for lunch and even more frightful is I actually found something on their menu that I like, actually crave.
They do a burger exactly the way I like it - grilled medium well, nice and juicy with gooey American cheese on a big white bun with medium cut French fries and a bottomless glass of Coke. It doesn't get any more basic than that and I like it. I find that "diner-style" burgers are hard to come by. Restaurant burgers are usually piled high with blue cheese or come on a pretzel roll with sweet potato fries or some such "gourmet" topping.
Back from a virtual leave of absence, and finally in town after the holiday season, I was pressed into service late Monday to quell a burger jones. Moody's is the local Edgewater burger place but it's really a summer beer-garden spot. I did some thinking and found Hamburger Mary's online. Had I done some more poking around I would have found out it has closed... Time was of the essence. It was a burger jones. There was imminent crankiness.
We arrived at Schaller's Pump about a half hour before the first pitch of game 1 of the World Series. They had just finished painting the North-facing wall of the entire building with World Series White Sox lingo and a bit of linseed oil hung in the air. Luckily we weren't being rained or hailed on. It followed this season's Sox fortune.
Schaller's Pump is a venerable family-owned pub on 37th and Halsted. With the world-fricken series in Chicago the last thing I would want would be to stick to the Northside and deal with Cubs-fans' attitude. Rather than staying home we went out with some friends, looking for an appropriate place to really get into the series. Schaller's Pump was the right pick.
My big complaint is that there is nowhere to eat downtown. Given that Monday night I wanted to watch the game with a buddy and the ESPN Zone was giving away $10 worth of game tokens I figured why not. I had a taste for the fried. So going in with low expectations I was amazed how much further down reality sunk.
One might think that even if the food was lousy the game would be the main event, right? If you are one of the lucky 30 or so to get the "good seats" on the second floor you might have been able to watch the show in comfort. But relegated to the first floor and the standard wooden, unpadded, spartan chairs and stuck facing non-hd rear projection televisions that neither my wife, nor I, would allow in my house we realized the cruel joke was on us. The several dozen hanging TVs in the first floor restaurant were also not only standard def but not even flat screen CRTs. You may ask why this is sounding like a commercial for Best Buy...? Well we certainly weren't there for the food...
As usual around 1:20 I start regretting not having eaten already. Also at this time I start losing the ability to rationally decide on a lunch solution. I went to the cafeteria and passed on the options there. I weighed going to Silver Spoon again or the food court at 700 N. Michigan. Instead I decided to be adventerous and walk west... and see what would happen.
I saw Thai Star at the corner of State and Erie and also Bijan's Bistro and figured I'd try Thai Star and save a buck or two but as I got closer I noticed they were closed.... Decision made.
If you haven't yet been, I'm guessing that you've at least heard of Moody's Pub, known for it's expansive beer garden. I'm fortunate that Moody's is in my neighborhood, just a couple of blocks away. But, you say, "a lot of bars have beer gardens." So what makes Moody's so special?
First off, its huge. You never (or at least I've never) had to wait for a table. It has atmosphere - dark with red flickering candles and waterfalls or fountains that are somewhat cheesey but they help create the mood. Lots of trees and flowers make it truely a garden of sorts. Most importantly, the price is right - pitchers of beer are 6 bucks and pitchers of Sangria are 9.
Chicago isn't New York. I'm only bringing it up because I have some delusions, harkening back to the 30s or the 50s where I picture long martini lunches, where the 75 year old man in the corner isn't whiling away his social security and instead is taking his sweet time because he owns wherever it is he works. Where Chicago is the place they set those half-assed New Yorkers straight.
My reality was Ditka's, where the fantastic Crab bisque has little to do with the quantity-oriented tendencies of the wise-guy Chicagoan. I miss those smaller upper west side restaurants where taking lunch or dinner in the bar is an all day event or those big mid-town and downtown spots where it's more of the same.
RL is compensating for this... please disregard the plaid pants...
....and madras.
Continue reading "Ralph Lauren for Lunch... Preppies Unite!" »
1:30 rolled around and I was still looking to eat lunch. The window was closing and it had to be relatively quick. Lawry's is the closest restaurant and their lunch special sounded promising. BBQ Beef sandwich for $6.
It's big. It's on a kaiser roll and it's good. I snagged a chocolate and white chocolate chip cookie and sat down in the back room. The table is set with homemade potato chips that everyone seems to love more than I do.
As a "Broadway in Chicago" season ticket holder, I've tried to get a reservation at 312 at least a half dozen times. As the Chicago theater scene is booming, the restaurant scene in that area is not, and I've walked in circles around Randolph for hours trying to find someplace that is actually open after 6pm.
Consequently, I've given up the search and have been frequenting the Walnut Room at Marshall Fields and have been pretty satisfied with their service and prices yet the food is somewhat pedestrian, making me long for something new. So again, walking in circles around Randolph we decided to try 312 and foolishly asked for a table for two.
Edgewater has started to develop interesting restaurants. Speakeasy, Indie Cafe, Blue Elephant, South, and Sizzle are all recent additions to the neighborhood. Chicago Magazine wrote Sizzle up for their chorizo burger but a couple of months before I got a door hanger announcing the chorizo burger. I've been thinking about the chorizo burger for a while and finally tried it last night.
I'd had drinks at The Pumping Company before and Sizzle still looks fairly similar. I was expecting a beer garden as well but got a beer patio. The place has an identity crisis. It's still a smoky bar but one that serves $5 mini lobster tail plates and halibut entrees. But they offer $1 bud lights. And the chorizo burger.
Eastern Style Pizza, 2911 W Touhy Ave, is pretty close to New York style pizza. They have been around since 1969 and have brought "Philadelphia Style Pizza" to Chicago and in addition grinders including the Philly cheese steak and about 30 more varieties.
They consider it "eastern style" and not New York style which I suppose takes the pressure off to some degree. The slices are foldable, go light on sauce and the cheese is pretty close to what I remember from several years in New York. How it does representing Philly I can't say.
If you have a serious "eastern style" pizza jones check it out. It should do the trick. Around the corner and down on California is Tel-Aviv Kosher Pizza. It's not open on Saturdays I couldn't make a direct comparison but I've been there over the years and it too is more towards the folding/low sauce/add some oregano, peppers, salt and black pepper type of thing, sans pepperoni...
If pizza is REALLY your bag Kendall College is hosting a free event Tuesday night:
Continue reading "Eastern Style Pizza & Pizza Party at Kendall College" »
Alright. I'm admitting that for the past several months almost every Friday I snag a pizza from Dominick's uncooked with one topping for $5. I stop at the video store get a lame movie and proceed to eat a few pieces and fall asleep on the couch before the credits roll.
Every week can be tough but we've perfected the process. You get one topping included on the pizza. Additional toppings are $1 and come in plastic containers. Getting pepperoni this way is really cost effective. BUT it's a grocery store and for about $.89 you can get sliced black olives. Wandering around the produce department you can grab broccoli, mushrooms, pineapple, sun-dried tomatos, green peppers, spinach, onions, etc.
Don't get it cooked. It comes on a black plasti-paper tray that slides right into your oven at 425º and in 14-16 minutes you have a really crispy nice pie if you DON'T cook two at once.
My wife is on a kick. We ate Mac and Cheese twice this weekend, going to lengths to do so at that. Heading up to Milwaukee for Easter allowed the opportunity to hit The Social, 434 S. 2nd St., Milwaukee – where they do a memorable mac and cheese. A rosmary chicken in creamy goat's cheese type of Mac & Cheese.
As they say, the memory is always better and sure enough this time it sort of reminded us of rosemary chicken tetrazini. It wasn't as good as we remembered it. The roasted chicken didn't carry the rosemary instead it was super-rosy integrated into the entire dish.
For comparison's sake we put Martha's Mac and Cheese together Sunday night and while I thought it on par with The Social's, it lacked the oomph from a previous attempt. It was pretty bland as per the directions. I'd tend in the future to add more nutmeg, salt and cayanne to taste and then it should edge out Milwaukee's best...
Continue reading "Macaroni & Cheese – Martha vs. The Social" »
A "lunchcounter" could, these days, be misconstrewed as the diet crazy. It's a shame nobody has revived them ala Starbucks... or maybe it's better they didn't.
If you head west from the lake on Oakton you drive past McCormick and industry until, a beacon to bellies, Sparky's appears. It's not much of a sight. A chameleon on the industrial stretch that includes masons, auto-related shops and other unknown buildings ostensibly packed with industrial equipment and electrical from the 70's.
It' s $20. It's got foie gras on it. That's better than cheese, right? It's kobe beef. If this isn't "big food" I don't know what is.
Rockit on Hubbard is a restaurant with a bar upstairs. Or is it a bar with a restaurant downstairs. I'm not sure either is true and I think that kind of works. It's a great meeting place and that's why I went.
The Walnut Room is on the 7th floor at Macy's (Marshall Field's) on State Street. It's a terrific deal for folks seeing the shows. On the menu they even note to mention your show time to your server and they'll get you in and out in 45 minutes in time for your show. Sweet Charity in this instance.
It must be a secret because it's always nearly empty at dinner (not empty around X-Mas). The view from the desolate 7th floor white-tablecloth dining room is terrific. The menu is incredibly reasonable, entrees hover around $10-12 dollars (Steak will run you $16) and the service is fantastic. It's really old school. You even get "Walnut Cookies" with your check. You feel like your grandmother would stoically approve of the formality and the price. And the warm roll they give you promptly.
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